Far From Home
by Reixe
Summary: It was supposed to be simple. Beat Kaguya, stop Sasuke, save the Shinobi world. Naruto should have known that was too easy. His life had never been simple. But landing in an entirely different dimension without any idea how to get back? Yeah. That wasn't even exactly new, but this time the person who landed him here didnt know how to get back either. He was so pissed at Sasuke.
1. Stranded

AN:** So I probably shouldn't be starting up another fic, but this wouldn't get out of my head. After I finished it, I figured I should post it. Yeah… so here's the first chapter of Far From Home. I hope you all enjoy.**

**XXX**

**Stranded**

Naruto and Sasuke stared each other down for the briefest of moments as they caught their breath. They were tinted in purple and golden-orange respectively, clad in Susanoo and the full Kyuubi transformation. Their first contact in these forms had gone as they'd both expected. It was a stalemate, but neither of them planned for it to stay that way for very long.

The two of them traded blows, blocking and dodging swipes of the sword and the claws. Neither of them were making any ground. Sasuke knee he had to make something happen soon and Naruto felt the same. The two of them backed away from one another, their chakra control so perfect that the water did little more than ripple as they moved away from each other.

"What… is that all you've got? You'll die if you keep slacking like that." Said Sasuke. Naruto remained silent for a moment, just staring at his Susanoo-clad teammate backdropped by the crumbling valley. Naruto narrowed his eyes and glared.

"There's no way I'm letting you kill me. You going on with this whole lone wolf act again… my one and only best friend… choosing this place precisely because… you knew what it meant to both of us… there's no way I'm leaving you alone!" Naruto shouted. A chidori screamed to life in Susanoo's right hand as a Bijudama swirled into existence within Kurama's mouth. They charged at one another; the once calm waters being flung into the air behind them.

Sasuke activated Amenotejikara. Naruto was moved toward him in an instant, forced to switch places with a few droplets of water. Sasuke plunged his hand forward, but Naruto was not deterred by his forced movement, meeting the chidori with his bijudama. The two attacks clashed, and their power engulfed the combatants in a ball of light.

And when the ball faded, they were gone.

~X~

Mercury smirked as he brushed his shoulder, playing up his victory over Yang for the crowd. She'd gone down easier than he'd expected. At this rate, they'd be relying fully on little miss Nikos to dismantle the robot girl for their plans. He hadn't even gotten seven steps away from where he'd put down Yang when he felt the heat. Turning, Mercury laid eyes on Yang standing tall, her eyes burning red. She brought her two fists together and her hair seemed to burst into flames.

The fight from that point on was not to Mercury's liking, but he knew the plan. At this point he was going to have to throw this. And so, he did. Yang put him down and was declared the winner.

"Better luck next time," she called over her shoulder as she walked away. Behind her, Mercury stood to his feet.

"There won't be a next time." Yang turned as Mercury flung himself at her with a flying kick.

Then there was an explosion between them. Dust covered the stadium so thickly that not even the advanced cameras tasked with watching over the action packed battles of the Vytal Festival could see within the cloud. Yang coughed as she struggled back to her feet. The impact of the explosion being enough to deplete her aura shield and then some. Squinting, she tried to see through the cloud of dust she was in the thick of, but she couldn't see more than a couple feet in front of her. What she heard, however, had her throwing her hands up in anticipation for a fight even though she had never heard a sound like it before.

The chirping of innumerable birds filled her ears. In the distance, blue light broke through the cloud of dust. She couldn't make anything out aside from the twisting arcs. The light shimmered in and out but remained constant at a central point. Yang felt like she was looking at lighting dust roam freely through the air. She didn't get it though. Mercury hadn't used any lightning dust during their fight.

Yang neared the ball of lightning only to watch it get snuffed out abruptly. Then she heard the far too familiar sound of flesh smacking against flesh. Her steps faltered. That wasn't right. _Is Mercury fighting someone? _But who was the question. No one else should have been down here but the two of them.

Gathering her courage, she continued onward. Ahead of her, something purple burst to life, glowing even brighter than the ball off lightning from before. Whatever it was, it was growing rapidly. Next thing Yang knew, she's falling onto her butt with a yelp as a large purple structure passes by her, nearly clipping her shoulder. It disappeared into the dust cloud above her, Yang's eyes following it up until she could see it no longer.

Her heart hammered in her chest and her hands hurt from landing on them wrong. A growl vibrated the air from where the purple structure had come from. The flap of wings sounded off above her and for a moment Yang worried a Nevermore had somehow found its way into Amity Colosseum. But that didn't make any more sense to her than a free roaming ball of lightning or Mercury fighting someone else.

Luckily for her, she wouldn't have to remain in suspense for long.

The wingbeat of whatever had been above her was powerful, extremely so. Yang squinted more and guarded her eyes with her right arm as the dust around her was whipped around and blown away. Yang gasped and her eyes widened at what she saw. A towering purple giant adorned in some sort of armor she'd only seen in small pieces on Yatsuhashi. Brief as it was, she wondered if this thing was from Vacuo somehow. Two purple wings rested on its back. Its face was set into an angry scowl and its nose was long. At the center of its chest seemed to be a person, but Yang couldn't make out much more than that. Her neck hurt just trying to look up at the thing.

A roar tore through the air, forcing Yang to cover her ears and flick her eyes to where the purple giant was gazing. Snarl set upon its long snout, a humongous golden-orange, black striped, nine-tailed fox was standing on its hind legs, its tails waving hypnotically behind it. Inside its head, near its throat, was another person. Much like the last, Yang could make out very little else about them.

Her breaths came short and quick now as panic filled her. She was a fighter. She was brave. She could stare down Grimm and smirk, but Yang had never seen anything like this before. Her aura was depleted; she was hurting.

Yang was afraid.

The two colossi suddenly moved, the once confused and worried murmurs of the spectators shifted from silent shock into hysteric screams. If not for their sheer size and her current position, Yang was sure she would have lost track of the looming monstrosities. Nothing that large had any right moving that fast. The two colossal creatures met in the center of the arena, their forearms crashing against each other. Below them the arena began to crumble. There was an explosion and Yang felt her body lift off the ground, rag-dolling in the air. She felt uncomfortably hot for only a second before her world went black and she knew no more.

~X~

Yang awoke with a deep gasp, sucking in air as if she'd never breathed before. Her eyes shot open and she felt sweat roll down her brow as she sat up, ramrod straight. Immediately she winced; her arms felt like they were being jabbed with thousands of pins and her back groaned in protest of the sudden movement. Then came dizziness. Despite the pain, Yang brought a hand up to her head as she moaned pitifully. _What happened…? _She wondered.

"Yang! You're awake!" In a blur of petals Yang could barely recognize with her swimming vision, Ruby moved from the door to her bedside. Taking a moment to let her sight settle, Ruby's face came into focus. Her eyes were watering, and she gripped the railings of Yang's bed as if her life depended on it.

"Ruby… what happened?" Yang asked. Ruby didn't say anything, she was so focused on not crying.

"Something crashed into the arena after your fight with Mercury ended. Whatever those things were… they were powerful. The purple one cleared the smoke and when it and the golden one clashed… well, you were flung into the stadium walls… you were burned pretty badly and the doctor says you hurt your back and head when you hit the wall," said Blake, standing near the now closed door. Yang hadn't noticed her, Weiss, and team JNPR enter the room, what with Ruby and her own injuries taking up her attention.

"After that we were all evacuated as quickly as possible. The colosseum is in ruins. We were so worried you hadn't made it. But a few hours later we were escorted here to find you bedridden," Blake continued.

"How long have I been out?" Yang asked. No one said anything. Yang looked around at their faces, trying to catch their eyes. They wouldn't meet hers.

"Nearly a week," said Weiss eventually, her voice almost a whisper. There was nothing left of her typical haughty tone.

"We didn't think you'd wake up," hiccupped Ruby.

"A week…? Then… why am I still feeling like crap?" Yang asked, choosing to lie back down. She did not feel well at all.

"Whatever those things were… they have an effect on aura the likes of which no one has really seen before. It interfered with your ability to heal. You only really started healing a couple of days ago," Pyrrha said.

Yang laid there in silence, just trying to take it all in. the white ceiling overhead did little to calm her thoughts, so she closed her eyes. A few minutes later she opened them again.

"There were people inside those things."

Yang's words left her lips evenly enough, but her trembling fingers gave away her worry as similar thoughts went through the minds of her friends.

Who could possibly be that strong?

~X~

"I don't understand how you could think this is a good idea Ozpin! Look at what they've done!" Yelled Ironwood, his fists clenching as he tried to make his longtime friend see reason.

Ozpin just sipped his coffee.

"I find myself agreeing with him on this, Ozpin. Those two boys can't be allowed to leave the room you've placed them in. A room that should be a cell," Glynda added, a rarity if Ozpin had ever heard one. Glynda agreeing with James? He never thought he'd see the day.

"'You two are under the impression they cannot leave whenever they wish. That would be untrue. If they want to leave that room… or a cell… there is, quite frankly, nothing any of us could do to stop them. They are being courteous by staying put, so instead of letting them see us as their captors—which I don't imagine would end well for us in the long run—I say we try and reach some sort of workable coexistence with them… which means we need to willingly let them out of that room. It's the first step to our companionship," Ozpin said.

Ironwood's face screwed up in confusion and he stopped his pacing upon Ozpin's nice blue carpet, something the headmaster of Beacon was grateful for.

"Companionship?" Ironwood asked incredulously, his voice coming out at a higher pitch than he had planned in his disbelief.

"Yes, James. As I implied, they are stronger than us. All of us. We mistreat them and it's likely Salem could sway them to her side. We know that they aren't familiar with anything here on Remnant and just want to go home. I know you think that was a simple deception, but individuals as powerful as they are would not need such things if all they wanted to do was hurt us or get at Amber. We're going to offer friendship and lead with a show of faith," said Ozpin. Ironwood scowled.

"I'm still not sure I trust their word. They could be from anywhere. But an entirely different dimension? It seems so farfetched," Ironwood responds. Glynda, who had already started to come around to Ozpin's line of thinking (if reluctantly), took a seat on the left side of Ozpin's office with a sigh.

"James, we're in a war with a seemingly immortal witch who is capable of controlling all Grimm. Ozpin reincarnates. There are four relics that can essentially reshape the world in their own way and there are four women on the planet who can control the elements without dust; their power migrates based on feelings. This—and I can't believe I'm saying this anymore than you probably can—really shouldn't be surprising," said Glynda. Ozpin just smiled pleasantly, though neither of them could see it behind his coffee cup.

He took another sip.

Ironwood sighed. Glynda had a point. Running a hand through his hair, he merely looked to Ozpin and nodded.

"Fine. We'll do this your way, Ozpin," Ironwood conceded.

"Then let us go greet our guests," said Beacon Academy's headmaster.

~X~

Naruto and Sasuke sat in their room. They'd been here for a little under a week now, mostly spending their time talking and looking out of the window. The room itself was large enough that they were sure it could fit another two people. There was a door that led to a bathroom on the left side of the room and the beds were comfy and large.

All-in-all, they were living in luxury. If this was their reward for finally putting the Elemental Nations back on the track of peace, then it was a pretty good one. There were only a few problems for them. They weren't in their home dimension, didn't know how to get back, and they'd yet to fully settle things between them.

Their fight had ended when the two of them had been pelted with something they had later been told were "bullets." The two Shinobi thought they were useless. What good was tiny metal if it was so slow? No respectable Shinobi would be hit with such things. It was after the bullets basically disintegrated from meeting their chakra that they took the time to look around, trying to determine who could possibly be getting in their way. They half expected Sakura and Kakashi. A smaller part of them thought that maybe some White Zetsu had survived somehow.

That certainly wasn't the case.

Imagine their surprise when they notice that they're not only in a stadium of some sort, but they're surrounded by hostiles and fleeing civilians. The change of scenery was so jarring that they just stopped their battle. They may not have been on the best of terms right now, but they'd already proven they'd throw everything aside and work together when they were threatened. They had prepared to demolish their opposition when one of them stepped forward. The grey hair made them think of Kakashi, a distraction the man surely didn't know he should be thankful for. It saved his life.

A few hours and an oh so informative chat with Ozpin later, the two of them found themselves in this room, worried and wondering how they could return home. They had a decent idea of how they got here. Six Paths chakra and Amenotejikara undoubtedly landed them here, but that was the issue. They'd been fighting when it happened and there was no way to tell how their two chakras blended to bring them here. Sasuke hadn't planned this and told Naruto that he wasn't proficient enough with his eyes to do this consciously.

They were stranded.

"Just sitting here won't get us anywhere, Naruto. We need to leave," said Sasuke.

"Give the old guy a bit longer. I don't think he's out there thinking up a way to kill us. Have a little faith, ttebayo," Naruto replied, folding his arms behind his head as he lounged against the wall on his bed. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"He might not. But the others might be."

"That's your problem, Sasuke. You just assume the worst of those around you," Naruto frowned. Sasuke met his disapproval with a level stare, his Sharingan active.

"Humans are prone to violence and hatred. Why shouldn't I?"

"Because working with everyone to reach an understanding is better!" Naruto growled, nearly shouting. They shouldn't be fighting over this. He knew it. Sasuke knew it too, but their bad blood was still fresh, and they'd been stuck in here for a week. They needed some space from one another. Space they knew they wouldn't be able to have even if they left the room. But even knowing that, it would be so much better than just being cooped up in here like this. They couldn't stay here much longer, or they'd kill one another.

And that was not a metaphor.

Sasuke snorted at Naruto's optimism. Naruto bristled and was just about to open his mouth again when they both froze, calmed themselves, and looked to the door. Moments later it silently slid open and they laid their eyes on Ozpin, Ironwood, and Goodwitch. Ozpin met their gazes. He smiled.

"Expecting us?" Ozpin asked.

"You're not very quiet. At least, not quiet enough," Naruto replied. Ozpin hummed in response.

"Yes, well... I suppose that's fine. We weren't trying to sneak up on you, after all. We've come to an agreement and we'd like to show you around, if you'd like," Ozpin offered with another pleasant smile. Sasuke and Naruto were on their feet in a heartbeat. Neither of them wanted to stay in that room.

"We'd love to!" Naruto said eagerly. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We were at each other's throats in here." While Ozpin merely nodded, the thought of the two of them being at odds startled Ironwood and Goodwitch heavily. They'd seen what they could do and after hearing that they hadn't meant to come here, they were able to piece together that the damage they'd caused the arena was only due to a battle against each other. They didn't want those boys to be fighting one another again.

"I'm glad you restrained yourselves. I'd like it if my school remained intact," Ozpin responded. Naruto and Sasuke looked repentant. Well, Naruto did. Sasuke just "hned."

"Um… speaking of damages," Naruto began as he awkwardly scratched at the back of his head, "Was anyone hurt when Sasuke and I fought the other day?" Ozpin took a sip of his coffee as he looked the young blonde over. The more time passed, the more he felt he'd made the right decision in trying to offer friendship over violence.

"Yes… a first-year student of ours was injured. She was in the arena when you… arrived," said Ozpin. Naruto and Sasuke shared a look. By the looks of it, Ozpin assumed they were having a rather significant conversation with their eyes alone. Suddenly, Sasuke sighed and Naruto looked back to Ozpin, leaving the older man to wonder how close these boys were… and what could have driven them to do battle so seriously.

"Could we see her?" asked Naruto.

"Why?" countered Glynda suddenly, her first words to the two boys ever. She didn't want such dangerous elements near her students.

"Well… to apologize. And help, if I can," Naruto answered.

Ozpin sipped his coffee.

~X~

Teams JNPR and RWBY chatted in one of the room's in Beacon's spacious infirmary. It would be more fitting to call it a hospital than anything else. The "Nurses office" just didn't fit despite that essentially being what it was. Hours had passed since Yang had awoken, and she was slowly recovering. Slowly being an understatement. All conversation in the room had to be held at a lower volume than normal, a struggle Nora had failed several times already.

Yang felt nauseous whenever she sat up for too long and her skin was something she didn't even want to look at. One thing she always prided herself one was her appearance. She was sexy and she knew it; she flaunted it. Now she couldn't even stand the sight of herself. She felt extremely lucky her hair had somehow not been burnt though.

"This sucks," grouched Yang, "I hope this doesn't take too much longer." Blake looked up from her book at her partner incredulously.

"You can't be serious," was her bland reply. Blake just didn't get Yang sometimes. How she could complain about how slowly she was healing after _barely_ escaping with her life was beyond her.

"Completely. I'm thankful I made it and all, but I'm not the type to stay still for this long. It's killing me!" Yang whined.

"That's not funny, Yang," Ruby admonished, finding the mention of her sister dying to be far from entertaining. Yang sighed and apologized. She hadn't meant anything by it. it wasn't even supposed to be a joke.

"I know it's not your thing, Yang, but you're just gonna have to put up with it. Unless a miracle cure walks through the door in the next couple minutes, you're probably not going anywhere for a while." Said Jaune, sitting next to Pyrrha near the window.

There was a knock on the door.

Everyone looked towards Jaune, whose eyes had gone wide. Nora called her leader a wizard and demanded to know why he hadn't wished up a pancake castle for her with a syrup moat. Ren groaned. The door slid open just a few short seconds later and in walked Headmaster Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, General Ironwood, and two boys none of them had ever seen before.

"It's good to see you awake, Ms. Xiao Long." said Ozpin, "How do you feel?"

"Not that great… I'm healing so slowly," Yang replied.

"Yes… it's a curious reaction. But nothing our new friends here can't fix, yes?" asked Ozpin as he turned towards the two boys. The students looked to them in confusion. They didn't look any older than them, what could they possibly do here? Ever vocal, Weiss wasted no time in asking just that.

"I'm sorry professor, but what are two students going to be able to do for Yang? Do they have some sort of powerful healing semblance?" Weiss asked. She took note of the sour looks on the General's and Glynda's faces. Her eyes narrowed. Something was wrong.

"No. From what they've told me, they don't quite have Semblances where they come from. Naruto, Sasuke, these young men and women here are teams RWBY and JNPR. I'm sure you can get all of their names later boys, but for now let me introduce you students to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. They…well, they're the ones who hurt Ms. Xiao Long. And they wanted to remedy that."

The two teams of hunters in training were struck silent.

"W—what?" Stuttered Ruby.

"That can't be true," said Weiss incredulously. They're no older than us! How can they be so powerful? It's simply impossible. I don't believe it, she thought.

"I am afraid it is, Ms. Schnee. They aim to fix that, however. You see, they meant no harm to Ms. Xiao Long and made it clear to me that they wanted to assist her when they discovered she'd been injured," Ozpin replied.

"Can we get this over with already? I'd like to find somewhere to train," grunted Sasuke, directing the question to Naruto more than Ozpin or any of the other authority figures in the room. The students couldn't believe it. To disregard three powerful huntsmen? Unheard of. Weiss in particular was speechless.

"Sasuke, why can't you be more friendly for once," snapped Naruto.

"Hn. Friends like us? I don't think you want me to do that." Sasuke replied with a smirk. Naruto grit his teeth and rounded on his friend. Sasuke's hand went to his sword as Naruto's fists clenched. They glared at one another, remembering once more how desperately they needed to settle things. Suddenly it felt as though something changed in the room. The very air they breathed felt heavy and charged with energy, as if some unknown force was making itself known and declaring that there was nothing above it.

"Boys. I believe we agreed you wouldn't destroy my school," Ozpin interjected, placing his cane between them. Personally he felt that if things came to blows he had the least to lose out of everyone here. And more importantly, he would protect his students.

Naruto and Sasuke didn't take their eyes off each other, but eventually—after much tension— Naruto turned away and Sasuke scoffed. With an inaudible sigh, Ozpin lowered his cane and everyone else released a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding. He was ultimately happy he needn't intervene. Professor Ozpin would have gladly laid down his life for his students, but he didn't want to die just yet.

Turning towards the students, Naruto took a deep breath before exhaling and throwing on his typical smile. It helped little. They still seemed a bit nervous.

"Sorry about that, my friend and I have some disagreements to put to rest. Anyway, like old man Oz said, we hurt you and so I wanted to help," Naruto said. Yang looked him over, her heart beating hard in her chest despite herself. She felt like she did in the arena just from seeing them square up. It was inexplicable, but she could tell these were the same colossi who'd fought above her.

Yang felt like an ant.

"What are you going to do to her?" asked Blake.

"I'm pretty sure I only need to place my hand on her chest. That's how I healed the last person," Naruto shrugged.

"Her chest?" Weiss repeated, her cheeks coloring. Naruto rose a brow obliviously.

"Yeah?" he said, questioning more than stating.

"They think you want to feel her up, idiot." said Sasuke. Naruto's face burned immediately.

"N—no! Not like that," denied the young Jinchuriki. Within the seal, Kurama's howling laughter was unstoppable. With a groan, Naruto ran a hand down his face. How did this happen? He wondered.

"We can try somewhere else if you want, okay? I've just never done it anywhere else before," Naruto said. Yang really wanted to make some sort of innuendo or snarky comment, but the two of them unsettled her more than she liked.

"Just do what you usually do. I'd rather be up and walking than in this bed. Even if you do feel me up, I don't care as long as I'm okay by the end of it," Yang said, prompting Naruto to groan again as Sasuke smirked.

"I'm not going to feel you up," Naruto says as he walks towards her, "let's do this, Kurama." He adds in a mumble, though the silence of the room allowed everyone to hear him. One moment he stood before Yang's bed as normal as can be, and the next he was adorned in a golden-orange cloak. It wasn't just that either, his sandals and his hair were the same color. There were these black bars on each of his cheeks as well as a horizontal bar intersecting with a vertical slit where his pupil should be. His irises were golden. The clothes beneath the jacket seemed to have become one and turned pitch black, the only color on them being an orange circle near his naval and magatama that curved with the neckline of his shirt. Floating behind him were nine orbs so dark that Yang could see nothing through them.

Naruto looked as if he was made up of pure energy at this point and suddenly the students took Ozpin's words about the two boys far more seriously. The energy they'd felt earlier had certainly been off-putting, but only now were they fully convinced. They'd never seen anything like this, and the colors matched up. Yang unintentionally tried pushing herself further into her bed as Naruto's hand neared her chest, but it was in vain. She wasn't going to get anywhere. Her heart thudded. She stopped breathing and squeezed her eyes shut as his hand made contact just above her breasts.

And then the most pleasant sensation she'd ever felt enveloped her. She felt safe; taken care of. It was like a warm hug all over her body. A pleasurable tingle rose up her spine and then went back down, traveling to her fingertips and her toes.

And then the warmth was gone. Just like that. Yang opened her eyes to find that Naruto had pulled his hand away. Whatever transformation he'd taken up was gone and he was just grinning at her.

"Well, how do you feel?" He asked. Yang blinked. Abruptly she remembered why he'd even touched her to begin with. She blinked again and sat up, looking down at her arms, her burn free arms. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood. She wobbled a bit at first, unused to walking after a week of being unable, but she got her feet under her and took slow steps towards the mirror. Her face was unscathed now. Her head didn't feel funny and her back held no pain.

"A miracle cure really did walk through the door," said Jaune, astonished. Yang rounded on Naruto and after a few steps she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Um, you're welcome. You don't have to thank me though… that was our fault after all," Naruto replied, patting the girl's back and ignoring her bosom pressed against his chest as best he could. Yang just hugged him tighter.

Ozpin sipped his coffee as he watched the scene unfold. He still didn't quite know who these two boys were, but he knew that if he could acquire their help, the tides of battle were sure to change.

**XXX**

**That's the chapter. I've seen so many Naruto RWBY crossovers start from the beginning, but I don't personally want to go through all of those mundane class days. Don't get me wrong. I plan to go through some, but I wanted to try something different. **

**As far as pairings go, I'm also going to try my hand at Naruto having two. Outside of Weiss, I don't know who else to pair him with. Feel free to throw some ideas at me. **

**Not sure how frequently this will be posted in comparison to the others. I have a new job now and my schedule has shifted due to it. Gonna see where this fits. Anyway, as stated earlier, hope you all enjoyed. Peace. **


	2. Reflections

**AN:Here's chapter two. thanks for all the reviews guys. I hope you enjoy.**

**Reflections**

"Now that Miss Xiao Long is healed, do you boys mind if I ask you a question?" Ozpin inquired as Yang continued to hug Naruto. The poor boy was getting a little red in the face and awkwardly patting her back, saying "there, there" despite nothing being wrong with her any longer. Sasuke wanted to snort. Naruto was clearly out of his depth here.

"Uh… sure, go ahead," Naruto replied after sharing a glance with Sasuke. The raven-haired boy had merely stared back impassively. It was the closest thing to agreement he would get.

"Right then. From what I understand… you two are friends, yes?" Ozpin asked. Naruto rose a brow as Blake and Ruby managed to pull the oh-so-grateful Yang off of him. Her hands were still reaching out to him, but at this point he had a feeling she was just trying to tease. He doubted anyone in the room had missed him blushing.

"Yeah… more like brothers, I'd say. He's my rival too," Naruto responds. Sasuke's face darkened, his scowl becoming far more noticeable to Ironwood, Glynda, and Weiss. He did not refute the claim though. He can't, really. He knew he'd be lying.

"I see… why then, were the two of you fighting so ferociously? That's not the kind of battle I'd expect from brothers… even if they are rivals." Ozpin's remark sobered the levity that had been building and the young huntsman began to take this situation more seriously again. The professor was right. Ruby couldn't imagine ever fighting Yang so seriously that they caused that much damage. Weiss felt similarly. Despite whatever misgivings she may have with Winter and Whitley, she would never dream of fighting them with even half the deadly intent that those two had shown in the arena.

Sasuke snorted. Everyone's attention was drawn to him.

"Seems you all have had it real easy compared to where we're from."

"Sasuke, can you please not be your usual self for five minutes?" frowned Naruto. The Uchiha's eyes met his and he scoffed. Naruto's fists clenched, but he resisted the nearly overwhelming urge to sock his friend right in the jaw and continued. "Where we're from… we'd just won a war that had engulfed our entire world. But once everything was said and done… Sasuke and I found ourselves of opposing ideals. So we fought."

"Opposing ideals?" asked Ironwood, incredulous, "you mean to tell me a disagreement caused the near destruction of Amity Colosseum and injury to our citizens? Do you even understand what you've done? What this means for our struggle with the Grimm?"

"Obviously we don't. You know we're not from your dimension," grunted Sasuke. Weiss blinked and voiced the question her fellow students all had.

"What…?"

"We're not from this dimension. Not from your world. Remnant, right? We're from a place called the Elemental Nations… and it was far more than just a disagreement," Naruto spat, first eyeing Ironwood, then Sasuke venomously.

"It has to be done. You shouldn't have gotten in my way, but I always knew you would. You never could mind your own business. Even when we were kids," said Sasuke.

"Has to be done? Sasuke, what you're doing is the last thing that ever needs to happen!"

"Humanity is a blight upon itself, Naruto! We're collectively evil. There will be another war unless I do this. There's always another war… but at least my way, the only sides are me against the world. They'll be united," Sasuke shot back. Naruto's fingers flexed at his side.

"We're already united! There's no reason that can't last. Your plan is just unnecessary bloodshed!"

"We're only united because a goddess descended and tried to kill everyone on the planet! The Shinobi need a common enemy or all we do is fight and kill each other. You want the cycle of hatred to end? My way is the answer!"

"Your way is just more hatred! You won't be any different from Kaguya. We defeated her; you an me. We put everything between us aside and we made that crazed goddess regret messing with our home! And if we work together and help all the other hidden villages put aside their differences too, our world will prosper!" Naruto shouted back, stepping up to his wayward teammate. Ozpin was starting to worry. He knew now that asking that question may have been a grave mistake.

He'd already been fully aware that these two boys were powerful, leagues above even his own abilities and strength. But for them to have defeated a goddess? For all his knowledge gathered through years and years of reincarnations, Ozpin could not fathom it. How does one possibly defeat a god?

"The generations before ours won't ever stop, Naruto. Don't be a fool! Killing the five Kage and focusing all the world's hatred on me will ensure peace!" Weiss's eyes widened and Ironwood's scowl (somehow) deepened even further. To everyone else in the room, Sasuke sounded at least somewhat unhinged. And they were likely right. There was really no way to be "normal" and be a Shinobi, especially not with the kind of hardships Sasuke had endured.

"You know I won't ever let you do that. Sasuke… you've gotta stop trying to do everything alone. That's always been your problem," Naruto spat.

"Alone, huh? You would know about that wouldn't you, orphan boy? But unlike you, I don't need other people around me to do what I need to do. They're just a hinderance! You especially… you're my best friend; my only friend. You're the only one who could ever hope to bring me down. The only one in my way! When I kill you… there won't be anyone left to stop me… and I'll finally be truly alone." Naruto gritted his teeth as he settled a venomous glare upon his brother in all but blood.

They were just rehashing the same conversation from a week ago. Nothing had changed. Nothing was settled. There was no way they'd get through to each other like this. He sighed. There was only one thing left to do.

"You won't kill me. But since you won't listen, I'll just beat the shit out of you and drag you back home. I'll break every last bone in your body if I have to, but this ends now, Sasuke," Naruto replied as he brandished his kunai, Sasuke doing the same with his sword. No one had noticed them draw their weapons. Another frightening reminder that they dwarfed them in everything physical. One thing was clear though. Right now, the world had faded away for them. All they saw was each other.

And that was not a good thing.

Weiss saw the remnants of falling petals in her peripheral and felt a sudden wind flutter her hair. Her heart stopped. Her leader was _not _about to do what Weiss thought she was, was she?

"Ruby, no!" yelled Yang. Weiss winced as she, Yang, and Blake were already moving forward, trying to stop the young girl even though they knew it was in vain. They weren't fast enough. Even if they were, they'd only be in the line of fire too.

"Please don't fight," Ruby pleaded as she managed to get between the two Shinobi. Their weapons came to an abrupt halt mere inches from the girl's head. Her shortness would have ended her life if the two of them hadn't had so much control over their bodies. Ruby's appearance between them seemed to bring them back to reality. Sasuke clicked his tongue and sheathed his blade. Naruto slipped his Kunai back into its pouch on his leg. The two of them never looked away from one another.

"We will finish this," Naruto grunted.

"Hn."

Ruby sighed in relief as her teammates walked up to her. Yang was scolding her, demanding to know what she thought she was doing.

"Do you know how dangerous that was? You know what they're capable of! Why would you try and get between them!? What if they couldn't stop, Ruby!?"

"But Yang…"

"No, Ruby. That was reckless! Even for us." As Yang continued to scold her little sister, Weiss stepped up to the two Shinobi. She was nervous, of course. She'd never met someone as powerful as them. And she'd certainly never been so close to anyone who could squish her like an ant. Taking a deep breath, she bowed before them in thanks.

"Thank you for not hurting Ruby." Said Weiss. At her side, Blake nodded.

"Hn."

"No need for all that. We don't want to hurt anyone here. It's our bad for letting our emotions get the better of us. We were trained better than that," said Naruto. Sasuke snorted.

"Training you ignored, Naruto."

"Shut up, Sasuke," Naruto snapped back. There wasn't any venom in their tones. It was a weird thing to see for the others in the room. They'd literally just talked about killing and brutalizing each other, yet here they were, almost lightheartedly teasing one another. It was like they'd flipped a switch.

"I'm sorry I brought that about," said Ozpin. His coffee lying spilt across the floor. He'd dropped it in haste and panic when he saw Ruby shift into petals. The girl was fast and while he would have saved her life, it would have been through trading his own.

"No, no. That was our fault," Naruto apologized again. Nearby, Glynda finally let herself breathe as lowered her riding crop. They needed to get these boys out of here.

~X~

Ironwood paced back and forth in Ozpin's office. It had been over five hours since the young Xiao Long had been healed. He, Ozpin, and Glynda had all taken some time to recuperate. The Beacon headmaster took it upon himself to guide the two Shinobi on a small tour of the grounds before taking them back to their rooms. He'd only returned to his office around thirty minutes ago. Ironwood had poured himself a stiff drink after leaving the nurses office. Three times. Glynda had shared in two of those drinks.

It did little to calm their tension in the end. They were glad they'd followed Ozpin's lead on this though. Doing battle with a pair of teens fully capable of subduing a goddess didn't sound appealing at all; having them swayed by Salem even less so.

"What now?" James finally asked.

"You stop pacing a path in my carpet, hopefully."

"Ozpin, I'm serious here!" Ironwood responded, but stopped walking nonetheless.

"I know. I've already taken care of it to some degree. The two of them have agreed to attend Beacon academy as a two-man team until they can find a way home. From henceforth, they will be known as team NS. Or Nightshade," Ozpin replied.

"You plan to have them around the students!" exclaimed Glynda as she stood to her feet. Ozpin sipped his coffee.

"Yes. It is the best course of action we have. They can't be left to interact with each other exclusively. The school would eventually get destroyed. They can't be staff. They don't fit the age properly and quite frankly they don't know enough about Remnant to be an assistant teacher in any class aside from combat. That also leaves them mostly on their own as well… which again, means the school would eventually be reduced to rubble. We can't have them guarded like criminals. They'd lose trust and we can't fight them regardless. No. Students are the best cover for them.

"They fit right in as far as age is concerned. And you can moderate who they fight during combat classes. If you have them fight at all. Their presence shouldn't be too noticeable either, what with the various academies still being here. The Vytal Festival has only been postponed until the colosseum has been repaired, after all. And with the festival already in full swing, so to speak, they can't be entered late. So they won't have to fight anyone and risk revealing themselves that way."

"And they… agreed to this?" Glynda asked, struggling with Ozpin's logic. He was right. It was the least suspicious thing they could do.

"Yes. They even said they would hold back as much as possible if they ever did have to fight a student. They also agreed to take care of the Grimm that resulted from all of the unrest they caused. All they wanted in exchange was access to the Emerald Forest for their training and their experiments for returning home," Ozpin smiled. Glynda let out a huff of air as she brought her slender fingers up to message her temples. Ironwood was pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ozpin took another sip. His two companions gritted their teeth at the sound, finding it thoroughly infuriating at the moment. They simultaneously had the exact same thought:

I need another drink.

~X~

Weiss smoothed our her hair in the mirror, taking extra care to make sure it looked as immaculate as possible. Beside her, Yang was busy brushing her hair and checking herself out. She turned this way and that, looking over every curve she possessed. Their reasons for the grooming were so different it was almost ridiculous. Two weeks had gone by since the Shinobi had arrived on Remnant. A week since they'd healed Yang. No one had seen them since then. Classes were only just now starting up again which was the catalyst for this current grooming. Last night Professor Goodwitch had gathered up their team along with JNPR to let them know that the two Shinobi would be attending classes as students of all things! Weiss had almost gaped. Almost.

What's more, the two dimension hoppers had been given a room just a little down the hall from them the previous morning. Professor Goodwitch had assured them all that it would be fine. The two boys had yet to cause any problems and at the moment Glynda was staying in the room directly across from them just in case. Regardless, it was a little unnerving. Which is exactly why Weiss was fretting over her appearance so much.

She wasn't trying to look good for anyone. No, that's what Yang was doing. Apparently the girl had mostly gotten over her fear of the two powerful boys and wanted to make the blonde one blush as much as possible. Weiss on the other hand… she was just so nervous she need to do something with herself. Singing would draw too much attention and she couldn't exactly go train right now. Class would begin soon and she had no intention of skipping. So all she could do was constantly look for some sort of flaw in her appearance. An out of place strand of hair here, a bit of lint on her dress there. She was nitpicking uselessly as this point and she knew it. But what was she to do?

Sure, Sasuke and Naruto weren't violent—to other people—but just knowing that they would be around and could squish anyone at any time they wanted was nerve-wracking enough.

"Weiss, you look fine," sighed Yang.

"I know. I always look more than fine," was her haughty response. It was nearly reflex. Yang snorted.

"Why are you getting so dolled up, anyway? You have a crush on one of our new classmates? Huh?" Yang grinned, elbowing Weiss playfully as she tried to get answers. Red tinted Weiss's cheeks as she thought of the sun-kissed blonde and his brooding, but handsome, friend. Did she have a crush? No. Not at all. But her thoughts had already been on them when Yang asked and she could at least admit they were attractive in the privacy of her own mind.

"No. I do not have a crush. That seems to be exclusive to you at the moment."

"Blush says otherwise, Weisscream."

"I told you to stop referring to me by that ridiculous name!" Weiss retorted, her voice raising a bit as her cheeks reddened further, this time in slight annoyance and embarrassment. Yang's grin widened.

"Seems you're not denying it anymore though. Which one is it?" Yang inquired. Weiss's eye twitched.

"Leave her alone, Yang. She's clearly on edge," called Blake from her bed halfheartedly, book in hand. Her eyes never even stopped roaming the page she was on. Was she enjoying Yang ribbing Weiss? A little. It was a guilty pleasure at this point. Did she want Weiss to erupt? No. That was annoying and loud.

"I admit… tall, broody, and handsome is appealing… but it's all about the blond for me. He's… hot. And I love hot things. Do you like hot things Weisscream?" Yang continued salaciously, ignoring Blake entirely. Weiss's pale complexion was nowhere to be seen now, replaced full on by cherry red cheeks. She looked down bashfully and covered her mouth with a free hand as she mumbled something to herself.

"Yang." Blake's warning this time was much sterner, her eyes peeking over her book in a glare. Yang held up her hands in surrender.

"Fine, fine. Sorry, Weiss. I'm done teasing."

"That wasn't very nice of you, Yang," Ruby admonished as she walked out of the restroom. Yang just ruffled her little sister's hair while saying Weiss just made it too easy. Ruby whined like only a little sister could and tried in vain to make Yang stop. A few moments later the young Schnee recovered her faculties and glared at her friend as Ruby went to the mirror to fix her hair. She didn't care as much as Yang or Weiss might, but that didn't mean she wanted to walk out of her room looking like a tornado had attacked her head.

"I hope you are aware that I will not let that offense stand. I will pay you back, Xiao Long." Weiss huffed, turned with dignified grace despite what had just happened to her, and walked towards the door. Yang just smirked.

"Looking forward to it." Blake rolled her eyes at Yang's parting shot. Weiss opened the door and froze. Standing before her now were the very subjects of their conversation. Her cheeks tinted again as she looked up into the clear blue eyes of Yang's crush. Naruto looked down at her with a soft smile set upon his face before he turned his head just enough to throw a grin at Sasuke.

"Told you it was their room."

"Hn. The other ones must be next door then. They both sounded close."

"Walls playing tricks on us. I'll at least admit they're thicker here than back home, ttebayo."

"H—hello?" stuttered Weiss as Yang moved up to her side with a radiant smile.

"Hey there, Whiskers! Come to see lil' ol' me?" Naruto rose a brow at the moniker she'd given him, but didn't comment on it. It was obvious enough where it had come from.

"Sort of? The old man told us to ask you guys to show us to class," Naruto responded, causing Yang to step closer to him.

"I'll show you around anywhere you want."

"Heh. Thanks, Yang." He replied, chuckling awkwardly. Sasuke absently wondered if Yang could come on any stronger. He wouldn't have to find out since Weiss gripped her teammate's shoulder and pulled her back.

"Excuse her. She hasn't been properly house trained just yet," Weiss apologized, ignoring Yang's indignation at her side. Naruto's eyes flicked back over to the heiress and she found herself caught up in them again. It was surreal… looking into the eyes of what amounted to a god in the flesh. And having that living god look back at her in kind? She could not help but feel… something.

She didn't know what it was. It wasn't quite the unhinging fear she experienced before; the kind of fear that made you question your place in the world an contemplate suicide. He could wipe her off the face of the planet. She knew that, but she could not be afraid of this person for some reason. She wasn't comfortable either. Being in the presence of these two set her nerves on fire, in a sense. She could feel every tiny breeze and the smallest caress of her dress's fabric. Her heart rate picked up and it was a struggle to keep her face as normal as possible. She felt distinctly uncomfortable in her own skin and it was all their fault.

She really wanted to go back to the mirror and smooth out her hair again. But Weiss couldn't look away, let alone turn around and walk back into her room. There was just something about Naruto's eyes that rooted her in place.

For Naruto, he was busy observing her hair. It was rare he met anyone with hair as white as snow. The most recent example hadn't been an enjoyable experience either. Kaguya was beautiful, yes… but she was like Nerium Oleander. Lovely to look at, but every part of her was a most deadly poison.

Weiss on the other hand, looked far more delicate. He didn't think she was fragile or anything like that. She was training to be a huntress, after all. While that didn't really mean anything to him and Sasuke, it meant something here on Remnant. A simple damsel in distress she was not, he was sure. The contrast of her refined and almost dainty features with her chosen occupation rose questions in his mind. He couldn't help but wonder what brought her to Beacon. There was definitely more to her than her soft features. The scar across her eye made that very clear.

"Naruto. We gonna go? Or are you going to stare at her all day?" grunted Sasuke. Naruto blinked and looked away from Weiss's hair to lay his eyes on his friend. Weiss came out of her brief stupor as well. Hesitantly, she turned to look at Yang who was attempting to pout but failed to keep the amusement from reaching her eyes. Suppressing a groan, Weiss looked back to Naruto and Sasuke as the blond of the two furrowed his brows in seeming confusion.

The Schnee heiress opened her mouth to invite them along to class with them, but Ruby beat her to it.

"Follow us and we'll show you where our first class is!" exclaimed the small leader of RWBY, elbowing her way between Weiss and Yang with a large grin on her face. Naruto smiled back at her and for some reason Weiss felt as though today would be a long one.

XXX

**After looking over the reviews, I think this will ultimately be Naruto, Weiss, and Yang. I'm still not entirely sure, but i could grow to really enjoy the chemistry. **


	3. Fall

**AN: Chapter three is here! Sorry it took so long, for any of you who may follow my other fics, you know what's up, for those who don't? I work in a hospital and haven't had too much time to do as I please lately what with the pandemic. **

**XXX**

**Fall**

Naruto and Sasuke sat in Professor Port's class, staring at the man as he told his story of battle against a Grimm. They were utterly bored. Their fingers moved the pencils in their hands as if on auto pilot, taking notes they didn't need and didn't care for. The only reason they were bothering was the simple fact that blending in would cause them far less problems in the long run. On the row below them, Naruto absently noted that Yang and Ruby were slacking as covertly as possible. His eyes flicked back up to the professor and found that the man hadn't noticed anything yet.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder how often Port got ignored in his own class if those girls were confident enough to do it without getting caught and presumably pass at the same time. Naruto set his chin in his palm as he continued to write. He slid his eyes towards Sasuke and let them pass his rival to rest on the members of JNPR. They were more focused than RWBY, but not by much. Pyrrha and Ren seemed to be paying attention, though he couldn't be sure how genuine that was. Nora was sleeping without being noticed somehow and Jaune, well… the poor guy was trying.

Naruto looked back to the front of the room as he noticed one of the other students look his way. An attractive girl with amber eyes and dark hair. She was easy on the eyes, but the amount of negative emotions that seemed to just pour out of her like water from a broken pipe was nearly mind boggling. She's something else, thought the whiskered blonde. Though she was nowhere near the man's amount of power, her emotions alone reminded him of Madara in a way.

Humming to himself, Naruto resolved to nip whatever was up with her in the bud.

**Maybe you should leave this world's problems to its residents. You don't wanna get attached, kit**, Kurama chimed in. But Naruto disagreed. It's not that he planned to get attached or anything really, but he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he just left this be and something terrible happened. He wasn't that type of person and so he told Kurama as such. The fox just harrumphed, but smiled, nonetheless. It wasn't as though he'd expected any less from his Jinchuriki, after all.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class and ending Naruto's conversation with Kurama. He and Sasuke put away their things and stood before meeting up with RWBY. The team of women waited for JNPR to join them before they left the classroom.

"So, what's next?" Naruto asked brightly, his arms folded behind his head as he and Sasuke followed them.

"Lunch!" cheered Nora in response.

"Oh? Nice. I hope they have some good ramen, ttebayo!" Naruto cheered in kind. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"You're such an addict, dobe. Eat something else for once."

"Ramen is the food of the gods Sasuke! Don't disrespect it! Besides, the old man said they'd start making ramen here just for me! And I haven't had any. Ramen. Since. We. Came. Here," Naruto replied. Sasuke shook his head in clear exasperation and the two hunters-in-training teams look amongst one another.

"Is ramen really food that gods eat?" was Ruby's innocent inquiry. Normally they'd all think that was a stupid question, but these two boys had met a goddess and defeated her. Considering that, well, they felt that it might actually be possible. Not to mention, as far as any of them were concerned, these two boys were essentially divinity. They couldn't fathom mortals defeating a goddess, after all.

"It's just an expression," grunted Sasuke.

"Oh…" Ruby said quietly as her face colored. She supposed she really didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, but that didn't stop the blush unfortunately.

"Well, since we're going to eat I guess we better let the bosses know," said Naruto as he pulled two Kunai from his pouch.

"The bosses?" asked Weiss, eyeing the weaponry cautiously.

"We're clones," Naruto responded. And then he stabbed himself and Sasuke. The two went up in smoke and the group of teens stood there in silence as the smoke dissipated.

"I never want to see that again," Blake spoke after a moment, sighing. The rest of her friends wholeheartedly agreed.

~X~

Naruto's eyes opened, his conversation with Kurama coming to an end. The ages old Biju was a wealth of knowledge and now that the young Uzumaki could wield every element known to the elemental nations, that was knowledge he needed. At first he wasn't sure he'd be able to do anything like that, but Kurama made it quite clear that the Rikudo Sennin was the birthing point of modern ninjutsu through Ninshu. Regardless of kekkei genkai, as long as it was an element and not some sort of physical mutation, Naruto should be able to do it.

It was a fascinating and daunting task to the blonde. Learning multiple elements wasn't going to be easy. Even less so when he wanted to study fuijutsu for his own personal reasons. He supposed he never really had too much time before, but while he and Sasuke were researching for a way home alongside Ozpin and their own training to master their new power from old man Rikudo, now seemed to be the best time.

"Why are you still just sitting there? Let's go," grunted Sasuke. Naruto didn't bother retorting and stood up, dusting dirt and grass off himself. The birds that had been on his shoulders flew off into the trees of the emerald forest. It was the only place Ozpin had felt it was safe for them to train. Neither of them had delved into anything dangerous just yet, but they both understood his worries. Ninjutsu was dangerous, after all. Them being here was proof of how volatile and unpredictable it could truly be.

"Did you see the amber eyed woman in class?" asked Naruto while he eyed some of the lurking red eyes he could see in the shadows of the trees. The grimm had been here for some time, but they'd yet to approach them. Neither of the two knew why but they doubted they were afraid. From what they'd been told the grimm were incapable of such emotions.

"Yes. She wouldn't stop looking at us," Sasuke responded.

"She was full of negativity. I'm thinking of asking Oz about it."

"Aside from Ozpin himself, she had the closest energy to chakra I've felt since we arrived. Still doesn't quite compare, but I suppose it is worth asking about." Naruto nodded at Sasuke's reply and the two vanished from the clearing a moment later, their course set.

~X~

Pyrrha set her tray of food down alongside her teammates and her friends from RWBY. Surprisingly—or maybe unsurprisingly depending on how one looked at it— a majority of them were having ramen. They knew it wasn't definitively the food of the gods or anything. They'd be lying if they said they'd given ramen much thought over the years. The only ones who'd even had it before were Yang, Ruby, Ren, and Nora. Weiss would have never considered touching the stuff until now, Blake had never had it due to her time in the white fang and constantly being on the move. Pyrrha had often been told it wasn't something she should be eating due to her training and Jaune had never really bothered.

That changed today. The four of them would be trying the food for the first time while Ren and Yang were essentially eating the dish on a whim. Once they were all settled they began their meal, chatting with one another and appreciating the flavors of the broth and its ingredients.

"Is ramen always this tasty?" Weiss asked, wondering why her father wouldn't want something of such quality. Yang was too busy slurping up a noodle to respond and Ren shook his head.

"No. I'd would have to say this is an exception. I wonder where the recipe came from," he responded, though he did have an idea.

"That would be courtesy of me," Naruto grins as he and Sasuke set their trays onto the table. Blake jumped at their sudden arrival, but said nothing. Sasuke eyed her briefly before looking away as Naruto continued on. "I happen to know a few of my favorite ramen shop's recipes. I figured Teuchi wouldn't mind if I spread the masterpiece that is his ramen with another city he won't be able to visit."

They read between the lines and nodded.

"It is excellent," Weiss responded as Naruto dug in himself. The blonde nodded enthusiastically as he slurped and Weiss's nose crinkled as she watched him, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She opened her mouth to say something and then shut it with a huff and focused back on her meal.

"So… about those clones… did you have to, you know, stab yourselves for them to go away?" Jaune asked, setting his fork down in his bowl. Ren had told him the meal was meant to be eaten with chopsticks, but he was not good at using them yet so he opted for a more familiar utensil.

"Nope," came Naruto's grinned reply, his eyes alight with mirth. Sasuke sighed as his teammate's prank, but refrained from saying anything further. "They just need a good hit to dispel. But giving you guys a good scare was more fun." Naruto chuckled. For a moment none of them said a thing. And then Yang spoke, a large smile spreading across her face that had Ruby eyeing her warily while Blake sighed.

"I like the way you think, whiskers."

~X~

Cinder Fall was not one to take interest in other people often. Sure, she made sure to know everything about someone when she needed something out of them. But true, genuine, interest? Such instances in her life were rare. And now she couldn't take her eyes off two people at once. It was almost mind boggling. This was the fourth day in a row where she found herself observing the two of them. Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Two men who seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

Cinder had made sure to have a list of every student currently attending Beacon, as well as those students who were coming to the Vytal Festival from elsewhere. Those two were nowhere to be found. Further investigation yielded no results either. For all of her skill at finding what people don't want found, Cinder knew nothing of theses two.

It was like they didn't exist. She had so many questions. Where were they from? How could they possibly have more than one Semblance? Who did they work for? Surely, they worked for someone. One does not erase their entire existence without some sort of backing. She thought over the possibilities, but settled on Ozpin in the end.

Cinder had overheard them talking with teams RWBY and JNPR on their first day. The conversation had taken far too long to move on from Ramen in her opinion, but once it finally did, she acquired all the information she needed. The two of them had planned to speak to Ozpin. And by the sounds of it, he hadn't called on them. How often did students search out the headmaster himself? No, it was usually Ozpin who called on his students if he needed anything from them.

It had simply been something curious at the time, but they had visited the man everyday since then. Furthering her suspicions, neither of them had fought in the combat classes they've had once. She was almost certain they were fully fledged hunters that Ozpin had employed to keep tabs on anything suspicious around his students. Cinder didn't understand how the man could have known there was something amiss here, though. She and her subordinates had been inconspicuous thus far. Ozpin had no idea she was a maiden and didn't know what she looked like. Unless… she thought.

Cinder's fingers tightened on her fork. No. It couldn't be… did the previous fall maiden wake up long enough to give them information? She wondered. She exhaled through her nose and brought her fork to her mouth, slipping the broccoli on it past her lips as she contemplated her situation. Thinking on it further, it was an unlikely scenario she'd conjured up. If Ozpin truly knew who she was, she doubted he'd have let her into his school at all. No. Ozpin couldn't know who she was. Not yet.

In all likelihood the man was probably taking precautions. As much as she was sure her plans would succeed, she was not naive enough to think Ozpin a fool. With that in mind she continued her meal and made her decision. Cinder had been observing Ozpin's lackeys long enough. It was time to see what they were made of. Surely Goodwitch wouldn't restrict them from fighting if they were challenged. It would be far too suspicious.

Tearing her eyes away from thee two anomalies, Cinder smiled. She would find out exactly what she wanted.

~X~

Sasuke sat beside Naruto as the blond chatted with Yang next to him. Combat class had yet to begin so she was using the time to chat Naruto up. No woman had ever approached Naruto quite like this, at least, as far as Sasuke was aware. Though his expression remained stoic thanks to all his shinobi training, on the inside he was smirking. Sasuke could admit the discomfort on his teammate's face was amusing.

He didn't know why Xiao Long found Naruto so attractive, but it appeared as though she had no trouble expressing herself to him. Sasuke idly wondered if Naruto would be able to rebuff her forever. They both knew that she was only being half serious with her advances thus far. She was keen enough to notice her attentions made Naruto uncomfortable—though, there wasn't anyone who couldn't tell how uncomfortable Naruto was, what with how awkward he acted around her whenever she tried cozying up to him—and seemed to take great pride and joy in messing with him. And Weiss Schnee.

Sasuke wasn't altogether sure why she was bothered. Schnee was harder to read than Xiao Long by far. All he could tell was that Xiao Long's flirting with Naruto irked the woman for some reason, but he didn't think she liked Naruto. Sasuke let the contemplation fade as Glynda walked into the room. Yang stopped hanging off Naruto's arm as Glynda quieted the classroom and began her lecture.

To be frank, Sasuke didn't care about whatever woman troubles Naruto was having. They were just a distraction. Their life here was mundanely routine by their standards and so very boring. Thoughts of their way home did little more than irritate him and letting his mind wander to his problems with Naruto merely made him want to fight.

Sasuke set his chin in his left palm and propped his head up on the table. Glynda waffled on—he assumed; he wasn't actually listening—about nothing of import. It was a few minutes later when he shifted his eyes off to the right, past Naruto, Yang, and her team. Far off in a separate section of seats, that woman was eyeing them again. He wanted to scowl. Four days of this and she clearly wasn't tired yet.

Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what she was planning. He wasn't like Naruto, really. He felt no obligation to help these people, but he was growing tired of this woman. Naruto said she was full of negativity and that was enough to alarm them considering they way this world worked. The two of them met with Ozpin that day after lunch with their acquaintances.

The information they'd received had been enough for Naruto to say he'd help this Amber woman who Fall had stolen maiden powers from. Sasuke wouldn't have cared if Naruto hadn't roped him into it too. It had ticked him off at first, but he conceded if only because it meant he could test the strength of these people. His first impression of them was unimpressive, but it wasn't as if he had actually seen them fight. Sasuke supposed he could reserve his judgement until he got a chance to do battle with one of the Remnant natives. And if he was lucky enough to fight Fall? All the better.

Ozpin had said that as long as it was Fall and her posse, he and Naruto could fight. With that thought in mind, Sasuke met Fall's eyes. She blinked, but her expression betrayed nothing more for a moment. She smiled pleasantly, almost seductively. He assumed she thought she was being subtle or something, but his eyes were not fooled. The problem with her plan, however, was that Sasuke could also easily pick up on how fake she was being. She was good, but she wasn't good enough to fool any Shinobi with a dojutsu.

Sasuke held eye contact with her for a few moments before he smirked and looked back at Glynda. Fall hadn't stared at them this long any other day in any other class. He had an idea what was coming next. And he was quite pleased to secure his place in the fight to come instead of Naruto.

"That's the end of today's lecture, now who would like to come down here for a spar?" asked Glynda. Many hands were raised, but the only one that mattered was Fall's. Naruto stopped entertaining Yang's teasing as he noticed Fall as well. Sasuke watched Glynda's eyes pass over the students until they landed somewhere around Fall's side of the room. The moment it happened Sasuke knew he would have the fight he desired.

Sasuke watched Glynda make a show of checking her seating placement despite knowing exactly who Fall was before she looked back up at the woman.

"Cinder Fall, yes? Let me just find your opponent." Said Glynda. Naruto's arm shot up. Yang twitched back, her grip on his arm loosening. Weiss inhaled sharply as the other two members of RWBY and those of JNPR just stared at him wide eyed. Sasuke's smirk widened and instead of raising his own arm, he stood and spoke.

"I'll do it." He didn't give Glynda any time to agree, nor give Naruto any time to argue. He simply walked down the aisle of seats he was in, then down the stairs to the stage below. Fall was already waiting for him there, smiling.

"Well, aren't you rather eager? I haven't seen you fight yet. Could it be that you wanted a chance with me?" Fall asked. Sasuke was sure she worded it that way on purpose.

"Yes," he responded. Fall blinked. Her smile faltered almost imperceptibly. Sasuke continued. "You've been watching me for four days. It's about time we got acquainted." Sasuke watched the smallest twitch of her brow. Something deep in her eyes hardened.

"The match between Uchiha Sasuke and Cinder Fall will now begin. A winner will be decided when one of the combatant's aura is depleted or one of them forfeits. Miss Fall, are you ready?" asked Glynda.

"Yes." Cinder did not take her eyes off him.

"Mister Uchiha, are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Then let the match begin!"

~X~

Naruto clicked his tongue as he watched Fall make the first move, dashing at Sasuke. She was quick on her feet and her slashes were well aimed and calculated, each one meant to lead into the next in a perfect combo. Sasuke dodged everything.

"I really wish it was me down there," he grumbled, scowling down at hiss teammate. He hadn't expected him to take the initiative like that.

"I know she's hot, but I didn't expect you two to be so interested…" said Yang. Something in her voice caught his attention and he looked her way. She was frowning as she watched Fall continue to try and fail to land a blow on Sasuke. Fire leapt out of the woman's sword in a wave. It rushed towards Sasuke, crashing against the stage floor, and rising back up as it washed over him. Fall lunged forward, but not to attack.

Her instincts are good, Naruto thought. Standing directly behind where she once was, was Sasuke. There was no way she could have followed his movements. At least, Naruto didn't think so based on how slowly she'd reacted. She must have felt his presence behind her and acted accordingly. The two combatants lunged at once another again. Naruto could tell Sasuke was just playing around with the woman, but he wasn't entirely sure why. He could only assume he wanted to see if she was a decent fighter. Anything else was beyond him.

"It's not that," Naruto responded, "she's been watching us since we got here. Wanted to take a crack at her is all. Sasuke beat me to it."

"So you don't like her?" Yang pressed. Naruto rose a brow.

"No?" A smile spread across Yang's face and she latched onto Naruto's arm again. Naruto himself sighed internally, as his cheeks warmed. Okay… I know I was distracted a little by Sasuke's fight, but I could have seen that coming, he thought.

~X~

Cinder took a deep breath as she turned to Sasuke, wondering how he'd gotten behind her without notice again. She'd tried paying extra attention to his movements this time, but to no avail. This did not make any sense to her. Huntsman or not, he shouldn't be able to keep up with her like this. It had already been fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of her opponent giving her the run around. She'd yet to get any worthwhile look at Sasuke's skills and yet she felt pressed. She was not giving her all, of course, but still. Even her current showing would normally be enough to challenge any active Huntsman. If she used her maiden power this fight would have ended long ago, but she shouldn't need that to best him. What is this man? She wondered.

Cinder brandished her sword, eyes narrowing. She lunged. Her sword swept from high to low. Sasuke moved to the side. She stepped in; her free hand curled into a fist. Sasuke smirked and caught her punch. Cinder winced and tried to jerk her fist free. She couldn't. her sword arm swung at his stomach from the right. Cinder caught air.

"You're mediocre at best. This was a waste of time. Should have let Naruto do this," scoffed Sasuke. Cinder grit her teeth. Her eyes flashed briefly with actual fire. She'd nearly let loose. How could anyone play with her so? Screaming, Cinder turned on Sasuke. Her body jolted back as she was forced to block a swing from his blade. He hadn't drawn it since the fight began; not until now.

Sasuke pushed her back, even as she tried making herself immovable. She glared up at him. He looked down at her, his expression flat. It was as if he was saying she was nothing to him with his eyes alone. Sasuke's arm moved back. He next swing came from the right. Cinder blocked. Sparks flew off their blades. Her sword ripped out of her fingers and skittered across the stage.

Cinder's hands stung. Her eyes flashed again. She lunged and Sasuke met her half way and traded blows. Cinder's were swept away by Sasuke's hands, while his own attacks hammered into the soft flesh of her stomach, legs, and face. Her aura would not hold out for much longer. They both knew it.

Cinder backed away from Sasuke, panting out ragged breaths as she glared him down. He strolled toward her, his visible eye a le steely orb. A bead of sweat trailed its way down Cinder's forehead and her skin grew hot as she realized something else.

Sasuke wasn't even sweating.

Cinder's eyes focused in on him. She couldn't see anything else. She couldn't hear the murmurs of the other students as fire engulfed her. All she saw was Sasuke stalking toward her, a smirk beginning to curl his lips. She lunged, her flames pushing her forward faster than ever before and exploding around her.

Cinder threw a flaming fist forward. Sasuke batted it away, as his right hand came up faster than her eyes could follow and wrapped around her throat. Sasuke squeezed. Cinder gasped for air and let her flames dissipate. Her stomach did flips as she made eye contact with her opponent. Cinder felt nauseous. She didn't understand what she saw in Sasuke's eyes. She'd never be able to describe it properly. But Cinder could say one thing. This could not be a human. This was death.

Sasuke leaned in, his lips near her ears. In any other situation, his hot breath ghost across her flesh might have been exciting, but right now it only made her hair stand on end.

"I'll be returning what you stole," Sasuke whispered. Before her mind could comprehend what he meant, she felt his fist burrow into her stomach. Her breath was stolen away, as her aura shattered, and blackness began to claw at the edges of her vision. Cinder tried to fight it.

She failed.

XXX

**That's the chapter. I thank all of you for your patience. The next chapter will come as soon as I finish up some other works. Until then, please do leave a review. I'd love to hear from everyone.**


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